2 Men Plead Guilty in Killing of Club Denizen

By JOHN SULLIVAN

Published: September 11, 1997

Correction Appended

Michael Alig, whose elaborately planned parties once drew thousands of young people to Manhattan night spots, pleaded guilty yesterday to killing and dismembering a fellow denizen of the downtown night scene.

Mr. Alig, who pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan to one count of first degree manslaughter, admitted that he and a friend smothered Andre Melendez, known as Angel, chopped up his body and threw it into the Hudson River. The friend, Robert Riggs, also pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Both men are expected to receive sentences of 10 to 20 years in state prison.

Although prosecutors declined to provide a motive for the killing, Mr. Riggs told the police in an early statement that Mr. Alig and Mr. Melendez had been fighting over a debt.

The disappearance of Mr. Melendez, 25, in March 1996 was one more dark spot in a difficult year for the once-frenetic Manhattan club scene. Earlier last year, Peter Gatien, an owner of the Limelight and other clubs, was arrested and charged with drug sales and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors charged that Mr. Gatien sanctioned widespread drug dealing in his establishments.

Mr. Melendez had himself been a flamboyant regular at many downtown clubs, usually sporting a costume that included feathered wings. Rumors had circulated on the club scene for more than nine months after he disappeared before the police charged Mr. Alig and Mr. Riggs.

Mr. Alig was known as a party promoter for some of the city's hottest night spots. It was his job to line up music, think up an outrageous theme and insure that the beautiful people were present when the club doors opened. He had worked for Mr. Gatien for several years, promoting parties at the Limelight, the Tunnel and other clubs.

Mr. Melendez, according to acquaintances, was one of dozens of so-called ''club kids'' who gravitated toward Mr. Alig; Mr. Melendez's brother said Mr. Melendez had considered it glamorous to associate with someone so well known.

In his statement to the police, Mr. Riggs said that Mr. Alig and Mr. Melendez had been fighting and that he had intervened to save Mr. Alig, hitting Mr. Melendez over the head with a hammer and knocking him unconscious. He said that Mr. Alig then throttled Mr. Melendez and poured a detergent into his mouth before wrapping it with duct tape. The two men then dumped Mr. Melendez's body in their bathtub.

''About 5 to 7 days later, Michael and I decided we had to do something about this terrible mess,'' Mr. Riggs told the police. ''It was decided that I would go get knives or something to help dispose of the body.''

Mr. Riggs said he gave Mr. Alig 10 bags of heroin to chop up the body. The two men put the remains in a box, and Mr. Riggs poured in some baking soda to ''absorb (hopefully) some of the odor.''

The two men carried the box out to a yellow cab. The cabby helped tie the box in the trunk and they drove to the West Side Highway around 25th Street, he said.

''The taxi drove off, and we threw the box into the river,'' he said.

Correction: September 12, 1997, Friday An article yesterday about Michael Alig, a party promoter on the New York City nightclub scene who pleaded guilty in the killing of a clubgoer, referred incorrectly to the specifics of the plea. While Mr. Alig pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case, he did not acknowledge details of the slaying, including an assertion that the victim was smothered and his body chopped up and thrown into the Hudson River. Those assertions were included in statements to the police by an accomplice who also pleaded guilty.